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Mitt Romney faces new challenger in GOP primary for Utah Senate seat

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:03:59 GMT

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs announced plans to run for U.S. Senate next year and challenge first-term Republican Mitt Romney in what could emerge as a competitive primary battle in the deeply conservative state.Romney, 76, has not yet announced whether he plans to seek reelection, but his transformation from 2012 presidential candidate to a recurring critic of President Donald Trump has led many to believe Trump could be vulnerable in next year’s Republican primary.“The only thing I’ve seen him fight for are the Establishment, ‘wokeness,’ open borders, impeaching President Trump and putting us even deeper into debt,” Staggs says in an announcement video that highlights Romney’s votes to impeach Trump.Staggs, 49, is one of several candidates expected to run to the right of Romney and, in the announcement, brands the incumbent as a “Massachusetts millionaire” who moved to Utah. After a career in securities trading, Staggs was elected mayor...

Toddler shot by stray bullet at Utah day care while playing outside

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:03:59 GMT

SPANISH FORK, Utah (AP) — A 2-year-old boy was shot in the head by a stray bullet while playing outside at day care in Utah, the facility’s owner and authorities said Tuesday.Spanish Fork police believe the bullet came from a pellet or air gun shot from a farming field across the street west of the facility, Lt. Clay Slaymaker said. There are currently no suspects, but a bullet hole could be seen through the vinyl fence that wraps the play area where the incident occurred.Lane Mugleston, the owner of Leap Ahead Daycare, confirmed that the shooting happened at his facility in Spanish Fork. He said two employees were outside when one near the toddler noticed him suddenly stumble, bleeding from the face, while kids played in the fenced-in area outside the day care on Monday afternoon. Nobody heard the shots at the facility, which is in a light industrial area near an airport, he said.“We’re absolutely dumbfounded. And we pray for the family and hope that the doctors are able to d...

Guam residents shelter, military sends away ships as Super Typhoon Mawar closes in

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:03:59 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration as an intensifying Super Typhoon Mawar approached Guam, where anyone not living in a concrete house was urged to seek safety elsewhere and emergency shelters began to fill ahead of what could be the most powerful storm to hit the U.S. Pacific territory in decades.Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero said on social media that the declaration will support the mobilization of resources into Guam, which is “especially crucial given our distance from the continental U.S.” Guerrero ordered residents of coastal, low-lying and flood-prone areas of the territory of over 150,000 people to evacuate to higher elevations.Federal assistance will be needed to save lives and property and “mitigate the effects of this imminent catastrophe,” Guerrero said in a letter to the president requesting a “pre-landfall emergency” for Guam. Officials warned residents who aren’t in fully concrete structures — some homes on the far-flung island are ma...

Social media star and influencer Tinx really wants you to take her advice and live your best life

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:03:59 GMT

“I need you to not wait three weeks for that loser to text you back when he’s not going to,” said Christina Najjar, best-known to her social media followers and podcast listeners as Tinx, in an interview over Zoom.This is classic Tinx. She’ll cut to the chase and believes honesty is the best policy. “I am a Virgo, so therefore I think I know best for everyone,” she said with a smile. “I’m always trying to give people tips. That’s always been a role that’s natural for me.”Tinx is putting her skills to good use with her first book called “The Shift: Change Your Perspective, Not Yourself” (Simon & Schuster), which she describes as “Tinx 101. A baseline, a starter pack for me and my theories and way of thinking.”She says it’s filled with personal anecdotes and life lessons she learned, particularly in her twenties. Topics include self-love, empowerment, mental health, sex and dating. Tinx first started posting videos on TikTok during the pan...

Canada has highest household debt level in G7: CMHC deputy chief economist

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:03:59 GMT

OTTAWA — Canada has the highest level of household debt in the G7, making its economy vulnerable to a global economic crisis, according to the country’s housing agency.In an analysis published Tuesday, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. deputy chief economist Aled ab Iorwerth said that the country’s household debt has been rising “inexorably” due to rising home prices. Mortgages currently make up about three-quarters of household debt in Canada. While household debt made up 80 per cent of the size of the overall Canadian economy during the 2008 recession, it rose to 95 per cent in 2010 and exceeded its size in 2021, he noted.“By contrast, household debt in the U.S. fell from 100 per cent of GDP in 2008 to about 75 per cent in 2021,” wrote ab Iorwerth. “While U.S. households reduced debt, Canadians increased theirs and this will likely continue to increase unless we address affordability in the housing market.”Over the same period of tim...

Federal government pledges $5M to Chinese Canadian Museum in Vancouver

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:03:59 GMT

VANCOUVER — The Chinese Canadian Museum in Vancouver has received about $5 million in new federal funding ahead of its opening on July 1.Federal International Trade and Economic Development Minister Mary Ng says the new funding will go toward renewal of the museum’s permanent space at the Wing Sang Building in Vancouver’s Chinatown, as well as supporting the facility’s first exhibit.Ng made the funding announcement on the sidelines of the U.S.-Canada Chinatown Cultural Preservation and Revitalization Conference, which is hosting representatives from 18 Chinatowns from across North America.Ng says efforts such as the museum and the conference are key to keeping a crucial part of North American history alive and to allow people to “appreciate the diversity of our society.”The museum will feature an exhibition titled “The Paper Trail to the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act,” with the July 1 opening date coinciding with the centennial of the passing o...

Pathologist in B.C. murder trial says he’s not certain where teenage girl was killed

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:03:59 GMT

VANCOUVER — The forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on the body of a 13-year-old girl found dead in a Burnaby, B.C., park says he can’t be certain she was killed there.Dr. Jason Morin told the British Columbia Supreme Court jury under cross-examination that the teen, who cannot be identified under the terms of a publication ban, had many relatively minor injuries on her head and knees.Ben Lynskey, Ibrahim Ali’s defence lawyer, questioned Morin about the nature of injuries found on places other than her genitals, including scrapes on her knees, as well as dirt found on her skin.Morin told the court he’s confident the teen died of strangulation after Lynskey questioned him about the “limitations” of his opinions given he did not examine the body at the scene she was found.Ali last month pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.Crown attorney Isobel Keeley said in an opening statement that the court would hear evidence showing the murder was ra...

El Salvador soccer club whose supporters set off deadly stampede will play without fans for a year

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:03:59 GMT

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — The El Salvador soccer club whose fans pushed down an entrance gate setting off a stampede that left 12 people dead last weekend will play without supporters in its stadium for a year, the country’s soccer federation said.Club Alianza also will have to pay a $30,000 fine, the Salvadoran Soccer Federation’s Disciplinary Committee decided late Monday night.Authorities said hundreds of fans were enraged when they weren’t allowed to enter the stadium despite having tickets. They pushed until they knocked down an entrance gate, and people were crushed and suffocated under the pressure.The game was still in the first period Saturday night when players on the field began looking toward the stands. Unconscious fans were being carried out of an entrance tunnel and onto the field where others tried frantically to revive them.Investigators are trying to determine why the gate was closed when hundreds of ticketholding fans remained outside. The section whe...

Toronto urges residents to push Ottawa to fill $235M city funding gap

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:03:59 GMT

The City of Toronto is urging residents to call on the federal government to provide $235 million to help cover a massive pandemic-related budget shortfall.In a written statement today, the city says the federal government had committed to match provincial funding to cover expenses largely related to reduced transit revenues and increased shelter costs during the pandemic.Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie says the city is now asking residents to contact their local MPs – by sending an email the city has provided a template for – to demand Ottawa support Toronto.The city email template that residents are being encouraged to use states that without the federal funding, “future frontline services will be affected.”“The City of Toronto does not have the resources or revenue tools to address the unprecedented financial pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said McKelvie. “Beyond the immediate support of $235 million required for the 2022 Budget short...

Des Plaines church fire believed to be arson; person detained

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:03:59 GMT

DES PLAINES, Ill. — Police in Des Plaines are investigating an early Tuesday morning church fire as arson.Just after 2:30 a.m., police responded to The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, located in the 1100 block of North River Road, on the report of a fire.Officers attempted to extinguish the fire, but were unsuccessful. The fire department arrived to the scene and put out the fire.The church said the fire was set to the outdoor Chapel of the Resurrected Christ. Damage was also reported to the statuary, sacred art and plaza area.The incident is under investigation and police detained a person of interest. No charges have been filed yet. Woman charged with murder of 31-year-old man on Southwest Side The church said they are "very saddened" by the incident and thanked authorities.